Homemade Flour Tortillas

Flour tortillas are so easy to make… and with so few ingredients, they are really affordable, too! This is the recipe I came up with to try on Taco night:

3 1/2 cups flour

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Salt

3/4 cup canola oil

3/4 cup water

Combine dry ingredients and make a well. Add the oil and water to the well and use a fork to start incorporating the flour mixture. Once the dough starts to come together, knead by hand. Form into 12 thick disks and put them on a floured surface. Cover the discs with a damp paper towel (or even cover with plastic wrap). Let them set for about a half hour. Roll each disc out on a floured surface. Flattened discs will be about 8″-10″ around. I used an electric skillet to cook my tortillas (300 degrees for 30-60 seconds on each side). No grease needed, just make sure it’s hot first. Place cooked tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap or towel to keep soft and pliable. Fill with your favorite taco fillings and fixings and enjoy!   Yield: 12 tortillas.

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I even used the leftover tortillas to make chicken pot pie the following night! My girls and I talked about all the possibilities… such as hummus! Yum!

The Safety for Our Children is at Risk!

This post is not about food. It isn’t about my creations. It’s a personal matter-regarding the safety of my children, and the other children in this town.

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Some would think we live in a sleepy little town. However, we have a major medical center in this small town of ours. People come from all over the state to be seen here. There is one road that brings the majority of  traffic to and from this hospital… Beaver Street. There is often a non-stop flow of traffic down this road on any given day. Beaver Street has two busy intersections, but the main one is the intersection with Delaware. This intersection has become very dangerous, as drivers are so focused on getting to, or coming from, this medical center, that they don’t always stop at the stop sign. Many people just roll right through the stop-or even blow through it completely without even slowing down. This intersection becomes especially dangerous in the mornings when children are walking/biking to school and in the afternoons when they are walking/biking back home. Most children who walk/bike to school have to cross Beaver Street and do so at the Beaver Delaware intersection.

 

Upon walking home from school last Tuesday afternoon, my daughters and I approached the Beaver/Delaware intersection with some friends. We decided it was safe to cross, as all drivers had come to complete stops and appeared to be waiting for us. However, as we were in the crosswalk, a truck lunged into the intersection directly towards us. If the driver hadn’t heard my screams of terror, he would have struck my daughter (and probably myself as well)! At least 3 other children have had similar experiences in the past couple of weeks at that same intersection… In fact, that very same morning, a young boy on a bicycle was almost struck there! He was almost to the other side when a car turned and came so close to him that he had to jump off of his bike to avoid getting hit. The traffic at that intersection is really heavy, being the main thru way to the ever-growing hospital, and it has become very dangerous to cross the street there! This is not the same intersection it was 20 years ago! It is impossible for many kids to walk to school without crossing Beaver Street and most do this at the Beaver/Delaware intersection. Due to construction in town, we have a temporary crossing guard there  (in light of what happened last week), but we won’t have her there forever. She is only there during this particular phase of construction for Chestnut Street. Over the past few days, with her there, vehicles have actually stopped at this intersection, instead of rolling through, or just blowing the stop sign completely, because of this temporary crossing guard. However, within the next couple of weeks, we will no longer have this crossing guard we so desperately need! Please help join our efforts to bring awareness of this public safety issue, to those that have the authority to do something about it, and let our voices be heard! The only way to ensure the safety of our children is to have a permanent crossing guard at this dangerous intersection!
“LIKE” it,  and share that page to spread awareness! Let’s get them to give us a crossing guard before the next ‘close call’ becomes a fatal accident!!

Rainbow Cookie Pops

 

40 individually wrapped rainbow sugar cookie pops, boxed in clear goodie boxes, shipped to VA!

 

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Thank you to all the teachers out there for all that you do! You are not only appreciated during Teacher Appreciation Week, but always!

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Happy BeeDay, Jaxon!

I have had the privilege of  watching a little baby, named Jaxon, on Monday afternoons.  My girls absolutely adore him and often fight over who gets to push his stroller, hand him his toys, or hold him. Jaxon will be turning 1 in a couple of days, but we won’t see him for a couple weeks… so I made him these cupcakes to take home with him today.

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Isn’t he cute?

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With his little bee hive…

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And a flower.

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Sweet display on a plate…

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Or even in these clear cupcake boxes!

Happy Birthday, Jaxon!!

Sorry for the flood of new blog posts

Sorry for the flood of posts. I was way behind and needed to catch up. I THINK I’m caught up now! lol. Still not sure why these blogs haven’t posted to facebook. Hopefully they will now.

Cake Among Cousins

Growing up, I didn’t know my father’s mother’s family. I didn’t even know my grandmother’s maiden name until I was probably in high school. This family had moved into our school district and told us they were related to us. No way! We didn’t know them, how could they be related to us? That’s when I finally realized what my grandmother’s maiden name was; and that yes, in fact, this family was related to us. However, I didn’t know that there were others out there. It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I started to research my ancestry. I began reaching out to family members that I knew were ‘out there’ but never knew growing up. I had asked about my grandmother’s family and was told to get in touch with a particular woman who would be able to introduce me to family members. I did, and I’m so glad I did! I learned that there are so many cousins out there; quite a few of which live fairly near to me. Facebook has been a great tool for me to begin to get to know all these new found cousins of mine.

One of my cousins asked me to make a cake for her daughter who was turning 15. She told me that she liked the color orange, that she was into singing, dancing, and enjoyed playing keyboard, saxophone, and clarinet, too. The design was left up to me, and this is what I came up with!:

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It was great to finally meet a few of my cousins in person today and I can’t wait for the next time we can get together!

Happy Birthday, Miranda!

Heinekin and Hennessey Cake

I don’t drink alcohol that often and I really dislike beer and won’t do shots. So… if someone asked me to do Heineken with a double shot of Hennessey? Not gonna happen!… However, if they asked me to CREATE a Heineken bottle and Hennessey label out of sugar? Absolutely!!

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Hand painted ‘bottle’ of Heineken, banners, and Hennessey label.

Happy Birthday, Nick!

Lily’s 1st Birthday

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Happy 1st Birthday, Lily!

Baby Reveal Party Cake

Baby Reveal parties are all the rage these days! I had heard of them-parents opening up boxes of either pink or blue balloons to show their guests which sex their baby would be. I had even heard of them cutting into a cake to reveal either pink or blue. However, I got a call one weekend to make a cake for a baby reveal party… with a twist! For this particular party, nobody (NOT EVEN THE PARENTS) would know the sex of their baby until they cut into their cake!!! How fun! I was so excited to be the only one (aside from the ultra sonographer) to know ahead of time! The parents-to-be went to their ultrasound appointment in the morning and then dropped off a sealed envelope! Once alone, I opened the envelope and read what was inside. I got right to work creating a vanilla cake with the proper coloring. Once baked off and cooled, I frosted it with a white buttercream and created a pond on top with some grass around it (the mom had given me some little rubber duckies to put on the pond). Then I piped on the wording they had asked for:

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I sealed the envelope back up and mom came to pick up the cake when she was done with work that day. That evening, at their baby reveal party, everyone stood around the cake. The parents cut into it and put the first slice on a plate to reveal…

IT’S A GIRL!!!

I was truly honored to be a part of this special event! I can’t wait for the next baby reveal party!! Maybe I’ll get to make some cake pops!

Pink Ballet Slippers

Pink Ballet Slippers for Margaret

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